Web of Deceit Read Online Free Page B

Vicky’s mother had
been chatting with this guy on the Internet and they decided to meet. She left
to meet him at eight pm on the
second of January. Vicky woke up at five AM the next morning, and her mother was not home yet. Vicky called her
grandmother, and the grandmother called the police. Because of the mother’s
record, the police didn’t take the report seriously, but told the grandmother
they would send an officer to stay with Vicky while they waited for Mrs.
Freedman.
    Later that morning
when Mrs. Freedman arrived at the small house, it was empty …
     
    Elliot takes a sip
of coffee as questions form in his mind. Hmm, why isn’t Vicky’s mom named?
And what about … ? Elliot hears a crash, and several pans hit the
floor in the kitchen.
    A muffled scream
escapes from the kitchen a second later.
    “Kelly!” Elliot
leaps up and bolts toward the kitchen.Reacting on instinct, he bursts
through the kitchen door.“Are you O … ?”Elliot feels a
concussive force strike the back of his head.His knees buckle, and his
forward momentum hurls him to the red and white checkered tile floor.He
slides and slams against the stainless deep fryer, not feeling the force of the
impact before the receding light of his mind winks out.
    “Elliot?”Odell
shakes Elliot’s shoulder harder than he should, upset that his regular customer
lies unconscious on his kitchen floor. What happened? “ Elliot,” Odell
says with a hurried Jamaican accent.
    Slits appear
between Elliot’s eyelids.He raises his hand to hold the plastic baggy
filled with ice that Odell is holding on the welt jutting out of his pounding
head.“Where’s Kelly?” Elliot asks.
    “You tell me, man.You the only one I see.” Odell helps Elliot to his feet and guides him to a
booth.“I called Frank.Been about five minutes.”
    “He should be here
soon.” Elliot feels the growing bump. Man, whoever did this came out of
nowhere. “Kelly’s in trouble.Did you see any blood back there?”
    Frank and Chip burst
through the door.“Elliot, you OK, man?Want us to call an
ambulance?” Frank asks.
    “No. I’m good.”Elliot feigns a smile.“We’ve gotta find Kelly.” He strains to
stand.
    “Hey, you just
hold on.”Frank puts his hand on Elliot’s shoulder to keep him put.“We’ve
got Sal outside looking for anything peculiar.”
    Chip pipes in.
“Yeah, we’ll take care of everything. You worry about you, bro.”
     
    *   *   *
     
    Ahh, eight
o’clock on the dot. Beth approaches the small coffee shop and
notices three police cars parked in the back lot. That’s odd. I don’t recall
their coffee and doughnuts being that good. Impressed with her witty self
after a late, annoying night, she smirks and enters Odell’s Coffee Bar.She
notices Elliot sitting in a booth with ice on his head. S he walks over
and musses his hair.“I guess Kelly said no.” Her wry smile widens as
she sits across from him.
    Elliot raises his
head and glares directly at Beth.His eyes well up, almost to tears.“Someone
took her.”
    “I know,” Beth
says with compassion, thinking Elliot’s talking about the case file she gave
him. She grasps Elliot’s free hand.“I promised Mrs. Freedman we would
find her and we will.”
    “No, Beth!Pay
attention.It’s Kelly—someone took her.”
    “What? What
happened?”
    “I don’t know. I
was goin’ over the case, and I heard a scream from the kitchen.I ran
back and bam !Next thing I remember, Odell’s got ice on my head …
and … Kelly’s gone.”
    “Who’s checking it
out?”
    “Frank and Chip
are in the back.Sal’s got this block.They called it in an hour
ago.”
    “I’ll check the
kitchen.” Beth slides out of the booth.
    “I’m goin’ with
you.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Any sign of a
struggle, guys?” Elliot asks Frank as they walk into the kitchen.
    “Not really, just
a few pans out of place and you being knocked out,” Frank answers.He
reaches for the back of his neck with both hands and